


Taarsidath-an Halsaam

by sunspot (unavoidedcrisis)



Category: Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Dragons, F/M, fighting is foreplay, sexy talk
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-30
Updated: 2020-08-30
Packaged: 2021-03-06 16:53:26
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,691
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26202214
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/unavoidedcrisis/pseuds/sunspot
Summary: When you fight a dragon together, you're friends for life. Unless you're more.
Relationships: Lace Harding/Iron Bull
Comments: 13
Kudos: 18
Collections: Black Emporium 2020





	Taarsidath-an Halsaam

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Toshi_Nama](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Toshi_Nama/gifts).



While scouting ahead of the Inquisitor and her party, Lace felt the air change, something unplaceable about the texture of it, before she actually noticed any danger. She pivoted on instinct, ducking low, and a jet of flame streams past where her head had just been. A sizzle of heat clawed at her exposed neck.

The pieces slid together for her at that point.

"Shit no, shit no, _dragon._ "

The Inquisitor was only about ten minutes behind her. She couldn't very well take down a dragon solo, but she might be able to stay alive for ten minutes.

There was a screech and another stream of flame, and in the stupidest move ever, she stopped and turned.

It was the least self-preserving moment of her life, sure, but damn... Lace couldn't think of anything she'd seen before that was as awe-inspiring, as majestic, as terrifying as a full grown dragon turning in the air above her like a great silvery carp turning lazily in water. It was easily bigger than anything else, bigger than four of the house that Lace grew up in, and it moved through the air with the grace of something a tenth it's size. It was incredible.

"Dragon," she said in a tiny, awed breath.

Instincts clicked back on and Lace dove for cover as the creature landed nearby. They both kicked up stones when they touched earth. Lace kicked up pebbles -- the dragon kicked up boulders the size of Lace.

"Shit, yeah **dragon**! Boss, look, dragon!"

"I see it, Bull, are we gonna — oh, yep, okay, we're already fighting a dragon, everybody!" Cadash cried. "Shit, does anyone see Lace?"

"Here! I'm okay! And we're fighting a dragon."

Bull was waving his great axe at the dragon and making either flirting or fighting eyes at it. Hard to tell with Bull. He'd fight it single handedly if they let him, but it would get done faster if they helped.

'Faster,' it turned out, was relative. The battle was a _slog._ Every time they thought it was down, it was back up, and every time they thought they had it pinned, it got loose and took to the sky. It was exhausting and exhilarating.

Lace saw the wing move out of the corner of her eye, and she was moving as quick as she could. She went low and collided with Bull's legs and ouch, she'd feel that in the morning. But she shifted him enough that he didn't get taken out by the dragon's wing, so, win?

The next time Lace looked around, the thing was definitely looking wounded. Sera and Cadash were off to one side, Sera lighting a pair of arrows and Cadash hurriedly smearing something on one of her blades. Probably poison, knowing the Inquisitor. 

Bull ran screaming across her sightline, axe upraised. Comical, as if the dragon was, say, a bear or a Venatori brute or some run of the mill enemy they faced all the time. A little scarier when the thing they're faced off against was twenty miles long and apparently just didn't know how or when to have the decency to die.

Lace ducked under the beast's front leg and crossed around away from it's face while it was distracted by Bull hacking at it's back end. There was a soft, unprotected spot she spotted right before it swung it's head around and she needed to roll out of the way again.

Bull screamed something in Qunlat and raced back again. If she timed it right… Lace took her shot and leapt.

It did not go exactly to plan.

Through a series of complicated missteps, mistakes, and bad luck, Lace actually ended up hugging the thing's plated neck. She saw opportunity in her misfortune and stabbed her long dagger in between the plates and twisted.

A miracle happened, and the dragon dropped to the dirt and expired. Lace went flying and landed in a heap, but in more or less one piece.

"You were incredible," Bull said, hauling her up. "Seriously. Shit. Like… shit, that was awesome."

He wiped blood from his face with his even dirtier hand and left a streak of dirt-blood-ooze. Lace handed him a handkerchief from somewhere deep in her layers of leathers and clothes. It was even clean.

"Aww, for real?" he said with a grin. "Save my life, now this? You're _the best_ , Harding. Drinks on me the next time we're at Skyhold together, yeah?"

* * *

Two weeks later, Lace found herself at Skyhold in need of a drink. She also happened to easily find Bull at the Herald's Rest, surrounded by his Chargers, making all sorts of noise.

"Lace!" he roars, waving her over the moment he spots her. "Come, sit! Drink?"

"You remembered!"

"Of course. You kill a dragon together, you're drinking buddies for life." Bull motioned for her to sit next to him. Krem didn't even grumble as he got up and moved down a seat. Dragon-killing-friends-for-life must come with a seat rule too and Krem's obviously heard all the rules before.

Another round of drinks was ordered and enjoyed, and then another. Lace always had a decent time in the periphery at the tavern before, but she'd never been the centre of attention. The Chargers asked for the retelling of the dragon story, though Bull told it a bit more dramatically than Lace remembered, even though she thought she remembered it pretty well. She basically ended up on the dragon's head for crying out loud.

He also embellished the part where she saved him from getting knocked down, but it made her look a thousand times more badass. Lace just went with it, nodding when someone looked to her for confirmation. Sometimes she added a 'uh-huh' or a 'totally.'

At the end of the tale, everyone cheered, toasting her name. Lace could get used to people telling more stories about her, if they all end with people cheering her name.

At some point during the story, Bull's expansive hand gestures went down to one hand, because the other was on her thigh. Sometime right around Lace's leap onto the dragon's neck, his hand started creeping up.

She felt the heat rise in her cheeks, but if anyone noticed anything, thankfully no one said it. Lace slipped one of her own hands under the table and wound her fingers through Bull's. It was a double duty gesture; confirmation that she didn't mind, and insurance he won't do anything saucier.

"Thanks for saving our Chief," Krem said, slapping Lace on the back and he rose to leave. The rest of the Chargers were starting to filter out in ones and twos, along with many of the other bar patrons.

"So. My room?" he offered, just as casually as he'd offered 'drinks?' His voice was low and gravelly, as it usually was, but there's an underpinning of something... darker. More wanting. Lace shivered and bit back a grin.

"Yeah, okay," she said.

And then with a boldness brought on by being the heroine of the story, she added:

"Be warned though, if you thought killing a dragon was a thrill..."

Bull laughed uproariously.

"All right then, show me."

* * *

All bravado she thought she had faded when Bull closed the door behind them.

"It's okay," Bull said, obviously reading concern writ large across her face. "You can leave, or you can stay and we can just talk."

"No, it's not that, I want to… whatever, I just…" She giggled nervously. "Wow, I'm just out of practice, that's all."

"That's not a problem. In fact, that's good. Lower expectations means I can blow your mind that much easier. Wait… But aren't you supposed to be blowing my mind?"

Lace chuckled again, a little more at ease with his choice to play the goofball.

"We should have a word, a tap out word. In case either of us wants to stop," he said. "Pick something you'd never say regularly."

Lace was struck with another jolt of worry, but she had to admit it's a good conceit.

"Uhh… Gooseberry?"

Bull nodded. "All right, I can definitely work with that." He moved towards her slowly, like he was giving her time and space to bolt. Lace thought back the heat from his hand on her thigh earlier and a very similar heat started to brew in her cheeks.

"Gonna kiss you now," he said. Lace nodded; kissing was safe enough territory.

Kissing Bull was… it was good. Lace was very fine with kissing. Good even. He slid his hand across the back of her neck and pulled her into him, closer and closer. 

"Did you hear what I said, while we were fighting the dragon?" he asked, pulling back suddenly.

"You said 'fuck yeah, dragon' a lot."

Bull paused. "Yeah, I probably did. I mean I said something in Qunlat: 'taarsidath-an halsaam.'"

Lace hadn't been expecting a language lesson. "Okay…"

" _I will bring myself sexual pleasure later, while thinking about this with great respect._ "

That startled a laugh from her. "Is that what that means?"

"Yep. And I have, you know. You jumping it like you did and taking it out? Damn, Lace, taarsidath-an halsaam." Bull looked at her, yeah, like he'd… done that.

Lace shuddered and bit at her lips. "Okay, yeah, that's not fair, I don't speak another language."

"I can teach you."

"I'm sure you could."

"Later though. There's some minds to be blown."

Lace smirked. "Just minds?"

It was Bull's turn to groan. "You're doing fine with just one language. There's nothing I can teach you."

"Oh, please? I'm so eager to learn."

He slid his good knee between her legs. "Well, since you asked so nice, maybe there's one or two things I could show you…"

When he kissed her again, it was open-mouthed and filthy, and Lace had no choice but to let her hands roam over his mostly bare chest. He lifted her basically with one hand, which was the most thrilling thing Lace could name, more so than killing a dragon (not that she would tell Bull that) and she made a noise to that effect.

"Honey, we're just getting started."

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to Z for the beta! And thanks to dragons, for being amazing.


End file.
